I Love You
by HystericalMess
Summary: One-shot. Chloe and Derek go for a walk. Guess who shows up? First FF.


AN: Just pretend they've been hiding out at the safe house for a year, laying low while the Edison Group hunted for them. Simon and Chloe only stayed friends. Andrew is out for a few days. I didn't really know how to explain these things. This is my first FF. Yay! I hope it makes sense… Please review.

Disclaimer: Me: I wish, I wish, upon a star, that I owned Darkest Powers. Star: Too bad for you, Loser, KA already does. Me: Damn…

I Love You

_Oh the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful, _

_And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…_

Chloe sat by the window in the safe house watching the snow fall lightly. It had been one year since the four teens had arrived, a week and a half since Chloe's birthday, and 5 days, 9 hours, 22 minutes and 37 seconds in counting since she realized her feelings for Derek.

_Derek knocked softly on Chloe's door. "Come in," she said. Derek entered the room, seeing her curled up on her bed with a book. "What's up?" _

_The werewolf went and sat next to on her bed, holding out a crudely wrapped package with her name on it. "I, uh, I got this for you. You know, uh, since I didn't know it was your birthday before and all. Um. Sorry about that." His sentences came out more rushed than she would have expected of such a normally calm being._

_She lifted his chin up to look at her. "Hey, it's okay. I myself forgot. If Simon hadn't remembered, I wouldn't have either." She took the package from him and gingerly unwrapped it. When she saw what the package contained, she had to stifle a gasp. "Derek, it's beautiful!"_

_She held up his gift and continued to marvel at it. It was a dress. Simple. Beautiful. The exact color of her eyes. "Well when Andrew took Tori and I to town the other day, I had her help me pick it out. I wanted to make sure I got it right this time." Derek blushed and looked down again, Chloe couldn't help but notice how cute it was. To his surprise, he felt a small force impact him in the middle of his chest. He gave a small chuckle when he realized it was Chloe with her tiny arms wrapped around him. "So, uh, do you like it?"_

"_No," said Chloe, watching his face fall, "I love it."_

Chloe let out a deep sigh and stroked the soft material of the dress beneath her fingers. "You okay?" Chloe jumped when she heard the deep voice from behind her, startling her out of her memories.

"Oh. Uh. Yeah. Fine. Just feeling a little cooped up is all."

Derek looked at her skeptically but let it go. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Please! Let me just grab my boots and a coat." Chloe rushed up the stairs, threw on her coat, hopped into her boots, and almost tripped coming down the last ones. Luckily a pair of strong arms caught her before she hit the ground. "Whoa, slow down Road Runner," Derek laughed and set her back on her feet.

Blushing furiously at the heat that had passed through her when she was in his arms, she mumbled her thanks and headed outside with a chuckling Derek trailing behind her.

Once they were outside, they settled into a companionable silence, walking side by side in the snow. All of a sudden, Derek stiffened. "What is it?" Chloe asked nervously. "Shhh. I think I smell something," Derek whispered back. There was complete silence as he listened to the forest around them. In a quick movement, he lunged in front of her and let out a low snarl as Ramon and Liam appeared from behind a tree.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? It's the little wolf boy and his girlfriend from the playground Ramon! Whaddyou think of that little coincidence?"

"Oh, a coincidence indeed Liam. Oh, but wait a second, I seem to remember that we came here to get them on purpose. Oh well. How it happened doesn't really matter now does it Sweetheart?" Ramon smirked in Chloe's direction, loving the look of pure terror on her face. "You two are gonna pay for what happened at our last little meeting. If you're a good wolf boy, we'll even kill her first so she doesn't have to watch you die. How about that?"

"You're crazy if you think you're getting anywhere near her," Derek said in a low voice.

"Oh, we'll see about that." Ramon and Liam were walking closer, coming at Derek from the sides. Abruptly, they stopped and lunged, one going for Derek, the other for Chloe.

She let out an ear piercing scream as Liam snatched her around the waist and pushed her against a tree. "Shut up you little Brat, do you want someone to hear you?" he snarled and backhanded her. The motion left Chloe stunned and breathless as black spots began to invade her vision.

A few yards over, Derek and Ramon were locked in battle of teeth, jaws and claws. Both had switched to their werewolf forms to increase their speed and agility. As they battled, Derek heard Chloe's scream drop off. Worry for her increased his adrenalin ten times over. He let out a ferocious snarl and managed to get his jaws locked around Ramon's throat. Without pausing, he pulled and twisted, severing the arteries and breaking the neck all in one smooth motion.

He looked back towards Chloe and saw Liam had his knife out and was running it up and down her bare arms as she shuddered from cold and fear. Derek lunged just as Liam started moving the knife up her leg.

The next few seconds were a blur for Chloe. One moment, she was looking into Liam's face as he whispered vulgar things to her and was touching her with his knife. The next she felt him fall back and saw the look of surprise on his face as Derek tore his throat out as well. That's when she felt it. A sharp pain in her thigh. When she looked down, she saw Liam's knife lodged there and a good deal of blood rushing out. "Oh!" she exclaimed as she slowly slid to the ground.

"Chloe!" Derek, back in his human form, reached her just before she hit the ground. "It's okay, I've got you. You're safe now," he said, clutching her to him. "Oh shit, Chloe. I'm going to pull the knife out okay? It's going to hurt but I have to bandage it. Okay Chloe? Stay with me, Honey." He grasped the knife and pulled, watching the blood drain from her face and hearing her small whimpers. Shredding his t-shirt, he used the pieces to bind the wound until they could get back to the safe house. He found her coat tossed off to the side and wrapped it around the shaking girl's shoulders. Then he pressed her close to him and picked her up bridal style, being careful of her leg. He walked as fast as he could home, praying to every god, goddess, rock or tree or whatever it was, that she would be okay. She had to be.

Finally, they were back. He slammed the door open and rushed upstairs yelling for a first aid kit. Tori was the first to get to Chloe's room. Her face turned pale when she saw Chloe. "What the hell happened Derek?"

"I'll tell you later but I need a needle and thread and some hot water and bandages NOW!" Simon rushed in at that point carrying the first aid kit as Tori ran off to get hot water.

"Stay with me Chloe. Do you hear me? You can't leave me, Baby. You can't. Stay with me. We're going to fix you up okay?" Derek whispered endearments to an unconscious Chloe, as he cleaned her wound with the water Tori brought. Simon handed him the needle and thread and went to help Tori gather blankets to warm Chloe back up. As much as Derek was shaking on the inside, on the outside his hands were steady, carefully stitching the wound, and then carefully wrapping it in bandages. Simon and Tori came back in then, their arms loaded with blankets. They meticulously arranged them around her as Derek washed himself of blood as quickly as he could.

He rushed back in the room and pulled a chair close to Chloe's bed. He held her hand and held a silent vigil all night, promising to never let anything like this happen to her again. Simon and Tori came and went, both with anxious looks on their faces, giving up around 4 am to catch up on a little sleep. Derek fell asleep in his chair a few hours later, still holding her hand.

Chloe woke confused the next morning with a throbbing in her leg and a sleeping Derek in a chair beside her. She blinked a few times, trying to remember what had happened the previous day. Then it all came back to her and she gasped.

With a start, Derek sat up and looked around the room searching for danger. Not finding any, he looked back at Chloe and sighed with relief when he saw she was awake.

"Oh thank God, I was so afraid we were going to lose you," he said, his voice breaking in the center. She realized there were tears in his eyes just as she felt her own run down her cheeks. She pulled him to her and held him against her breast. "Shhh. It's okay. I'm okay. Everyone's safe." She whispered these small words to him, knowing exactly how he felt. She felt her own relief at seeing him alive and unharmed, though deeply shaken. That's when she realized she couldn't go through that again without telling him how much he meant to her.

"Hey Derek?" "Hmmm?" He responded from his place in her arms. "I love you." She felt him stiffen for a moment before he relaxed. She could hear the smile in his voice as he responded.

"I love you too, Chloe. I love you too."


End file.
